Opinion category, Page 797
Now for the real deal — what is a ‘wall’?
Welcome to the eye of the hurricane. For more than a month, the federal government was in partial shutdown while President Trump and congressional leaders were deadlocked over the president’s demands for money to build his long-promised border wall. Neither side would budge and all the wiggle room for negotiation,...
Editorial: Shut down shutdowns
The longest government shutdown may have done the impossible. It got some Republicans and Democrats to agree on the need for some kind of wall. Unfortunately for President Trump, what they want to wall off is the option to shut down the federal government. Legislators from both parties have openly...
Letter to the editor: Preventing pregnancy can stop abortions
I read the op-ed by Tara Murtha and Susan Frietsche (“Nothing ‘pro-life’ about overturning Roe v. Wade,” Jan. 12, TribLIVE) that advocated keeping abortion legal. I also read the op-ed by Maria Gallagher (“So much wrong with abortion ‘right’,” Jan. 12, TribLIVE), who wrote about how abortion kills a defenseless...
Letter to the editor: Where is my Democratic Party?
Whatever happened to the Democratic Party I registered with 60 years ago? What I see today in no way resembles the party I knew. I cannot remember a time when so much raw, ugly hatred was displayed by our politicians. It is hard to watch. What is really hard to...
Letter to the editor: Wall will work
Our government partially shut down because the Democrats refuse to compromise with President Trump. He wants to build a wall to slow down the flood of illegal immigrants entering our country. They don’t want to lose potential voters. Trump’s plan for a wall has been tried before, and it worked....
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Potential 2020 Democrat nominees look like America
Too many political journalists and talking heads compare presidential primary elections to horse races. Predictably, they are now using the old racing expression “And they’re off!” to describe the upcoming campaign season. The truth is that the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, while wide open now, begins with a...
Letter to the editor: Punish politicians
When our children are growing up, we try to reward good behavior and punish bad behavior. Why do we put up with politicians who do the opposite? They push gun control laws that punish honest, law-abiding people while doing nothing to punish or deter criminals. The government shutdown punishes employees...
Letter to the editor: Love thy neighbor, Jesus commanded
A parable of the good Samaritan for our times: There was a talk show host who obtained an exclusive interview with Jesus Christ. Wanting to boost his station’s ratings, he asked Jesus, “Teacher, what is the greatest commandment?” Jesus replied, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your...
Letter to the editor: Emotion vs. sense
Paid vacation, not soup lines, is what those affected by the government shutdown were engaged in. All will get back pay. Surprise, a political party is obscuring truth with emotion for the purpose of power. Open borders, sanctuary cities, no photo IDs to vote, abortions all around, push God out...
Letter to the editor: Senators complicit
Sens. Bob Casey and Pat Toomey were both complicit in the government shutdown. Neither did anything to get Sen. Mitch McConnell to bring the bills to the floor to end the shutdown. He will not do so until he gets permission from President Trump. What a disgusting individual. He is...
Letter to the editor: Entering totalitarianism
I can’t believe what Mayor Bill Peduto (and Pittsburgh City Council) are proposing — declaring that radio broadcasting must cease in the Pittsburgh region. They state that TV, iPhone, text messaging, magazines and newspapers will still be freely available. It only amounts to 20 percent or so of a rescission...
Walter Williams: Who benefits from democratic control?
In 1976, Gerald Ford won 15 percent of the black vote. That’s the most of any recent Republican presidential candidate. In most elections, blacks give Democrats over 90 percent of their votes. It’s not unreasonable to ask what have blacks gained from such unquestioning loyalty to the Democratic Party. After...
John Stossel: School choice includes ideas, too
Today concludes School Choice Week. School choice is a noble cause. In much of America, parents have little or no control over where their kids attend school. Local governments assign schools by ZIP code. Having choice is better. Whether it’s vouchers, scholarships, charters, private schools or just having options among...
Letter to the editor: Anti-wall means anti-Trump
This tweeter not to be trumped is tweetered expressly for my conservative compatriots and for obstinate liberals conceivably capable of still being able to see the woods for the trees. You non-conservative Democrat politicians don’t give a rat’s fanny how many immigrants cross the border, how many terrorists, how many...
Editorial: Government is open. For now.
It took 35 days. It took more than a month to get the federal government open for business after President Trump pulled back on his previous support for a bipartisan spending plan that would have funded operations into February. It went through two pay cycles for 800,000 government employees and...
Editorial: Voices heard at gun control hearing?
It was a hearing. Not a listening. On Thursday night, 101 people stepped up to the microphone in front of Pittsburgh City Council and Mayor Bill Peduto. They wanted to have their say. They each were allotted three minutes to tell their story or plead their case. They spoke on...
Paul Kengor: Join the Twitter mob!
“You’ve got to get on Twitter!” a former student told me recently. “It’s where everything is happening.” Well, I’m not on Twitter. I do, however, have a Twitter account. I don’t know what it is, where it is or how to access it. I want nothing to do with it....
Letter to the editor: ‘Wall’ issue is a ‘will’ issue
The Bible is clear on how to handle immigrants. Exodus 22:21 says, “You shall neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him.” This is repeated in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Exodus 12:49 says, “One law shall be to him that is home-born, and unto the foreigner who sojourns among you,” repeated in...
Letter to the editor: Democrats ridiculous
Regarding the letter “Trump bully & liar” (Jan. 14, TribLIVE): America is waking up to the ridiculous stance of the Democratic Party. All it would take to open the government is for the Democrats to approve the wall that they were all in favor of during previous administrations. Chuck Schumer...
Lori Falce: Social media has no indoor voice
We all have that person who doesn’t really get technology. Maybe it’s the TV remote that’s outside their scope. Maybe it’s the smartphone he never really wanted. For many, though, this is most publicly seen with social media. For me, it is generally with family. Names and relationships have been...
Laurels & lances: Art and history and crimes and punishment
Laurel: To “Hamilton” for prioritizing education. The hottest ticket in town is a free ticket for 2,700 Pennsylvania students who scored a shot at seeing the Tony Award-winning megahit at the Benedum Center on Friday as part of the Hamilton Education Project. It brings kids from low-income districts to the...
Letter to the editor: Quit politicizing wall
I find it disturbing that the crisis of the wall (barrier?) has been politicized to this point. What I would like to see is Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer and the rest of those who say there is no crisis bused to the border, where they can actually see what’s...
Letter to the editor: Romney has no courage
Oren Spiegler’s letter ”Romney’s courage” (Jan. 8, TribLIVE) praising Mitt Romney for standing up to President Trump demands a strong rebuttal. Spiegler states that Romney supports many of Trump’s policies, then lauds him for denouncing Trump for his personal and destructive behavior that is supposedly dividing America. Trump has been...
Letter to the editor: What if it were your kids?
I 100 percent agree with letter-writer Amy Kriss (“Catholic Church is not above the law,” Jan. 2, TribLIVE). I would like to ask the Rev. John Sweeney’s attorney, face to face, if Sweeney did this to his children, what would his response be? If he did this to my kids,...
George Will: Why do people like Lindsey Graham come to Congress?
WASHINGTON Back in the day, small rural airports had textile windsocks, simple and empty things that indicated which way the wind was blowing. The ubiquitous Sen. Lindsey Graham has become a political windsock, and as such he — more than the sturdy, substantial elephant — is emblematic of his party...
